Japan's Type 4 main battle tank and Type 5 main battle tank were codenamed "Chito", and the development work began before the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and the development of two main battle tanks, one large and one small, began at the same time.

Because of the strong armor pressure of China and the Soviet Union, Japan had to start developing a heavy equipment for land theaters. Type 4 is a main battle tank developed with the help of the initial style of the German Leopard tank, and its test effect and actual combat performance are better than the initial model of the German Leopard tank.

Limited to Japan's geographical area and lack of domestic resources, the Japanese side originally planned to develop a Chinese Tiger tank whose combat performance could be comparable to that of China, at least in terms of combat weight (firepower and armor), and could not be weaker than China's Chinese Tiger main battle tank. However, as a result, the Japanese found that in order to take into account China's attitude, Germany did not intend to give Japan the tank gun technology of its German Tiger tank, and on the basis that the artillery technology was not up to standard, Japan could only adopt a compromise method and adopted the 88-mm anti-aircraft gun and battle defense gun imported from Germany, carried out its own development and modification, and finally installed it on the body of the Type 4 tank. However, with the installation of larger-caliber artillery, the 86 shells originally planned to be loaded could only be reluctantly reduced to 56.

It is also not to be done, because of the small-caliber artillery, as shown by firing tests. Armor-piercing power of artillery of less than 88 mm caliber was significantly insufficient. Therefore, only a scheme with a minimum caliber of 88 mm was taken. This is also the first time that Japan has equipped a tank with a large-caliber artillery. In the past, no matter which combat vehicle it was, the largest caliber in Japan in this regard was only 57 mm. It was a bold attempt, but with some German guidance and experience, the two Japanese tanks were finally finalized.

The Type 4 tank began to be produced on a large scale before Japan officially joined the Allies, and has now been rapidly reequipped with many armored divisions. And the Type 5 tank, because it was decided to take at least 105 mm caliber guns. Full weight of the body and combat. It is also much larger than the four-type, and it is very difficult to develop.

It is conceivable that in the past, Japan's Type 1 tank and Type 97 tank were not tanks at all. Full weight of battle. It is not as good as the Chinese paratrooper fighting vehicle. Armor protection is not even possible with the 12.7 mm heavy machine guns of the Chinese people. The defeat of the Shanghai Dispatch Army that year. Let the Japanese remember it fiercely.

When Japan cooperated with Germany to carry out the Barbarossa plan, it also suffered a great loss from the Soviet T-34/85 in terms of armor, and the Japanese side washed away the shame of the army in the armored forces. Continuously accelerate the speed of development. However, when the Type 4, which surpassed the T-34/85 tank in all aspects, joined the Allies, and the two did not officially compete.

The Type 4 tank was produced at full capacity in five tank production workshops of the well-known Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Company in an underground plant. The total combat weight of the Type 4 medium tank was 30.8 tons, which was a qualitative leap from the previous Japanese "medium tanks" that only had more than 10 tons. The Type 5 main battle tank has reached a total combat weight of 40 tons, which is almost catching up with the Chinese Tiger tank of China.

The total length of the Type 4 tank is 6.343 meters, the total width of the vehicle is 2.865 meters, and the total height of the vehicle is 2.772 meters, which is larger than the Type 3 tank. The crew consists of four people: the commander, the gun commander, the driver, and the co-pilot.

The main armament on the Type 4 tank was a Type 4 88mm anti-aircraft gun, and it was intended to use an automatic loader (not a flashy addition). The types of ammunition used are: type one armor-piercing bullet and type four grenade. When firing an armor-piercing projectile, at a firing range of 1000 meters, it can penetrate 75 mm thick steel armor. In order to improve the armor-piercing power, while strengthening the material of the projectile body, 65 grams of high-intensity explosives are added to the warhead. The ammunition base is 56 rounds. The secondary armament is 2 7.7 mm machine guns, 1 parallel machine gun and 1 front machine gun with an ammunition base of 5000 rounds. The maximum speed is 45 km/h and the maximum range is 300 km.

The body is a welded structure, and the turret is a mixed structure of casting, welding and screwing, which is cast in three parts, and then welded, and the shield part is screwed. This hybrid turret machining method is a big step forward from the original riveting method of Japanese tanks, but it is technically easier than a monolithic cast turret or an all-welded turret. The thickness of the armor of the hull is 15~35 mm, and the thickness of the armor of the turret is 50 mm. (These data are completely different from the real data, so there is no need to look them up.) By the way, Type 4 and Type 5 tanks were not gorgeously created, and during World War II, there was indeed such a thing. ）

The Type 4 tank was no worse than the German Leopard tank, and except for the locust tactics, it was stronger than the Soviet T-34/85, which completely destroyed the American Sherman. Not to mention the German Leopard tank, the performance is good, but it is a pity that it costs money and effort. And the American Sherman and the Soviet T-34/85 have one thing in common, cheap and quick to build and operate. If you play locust tactics, no matter how powerful the tank is, it will be killed by the sea of people, let alone the sea of tanks. And against the Soviet T-34/85, you have to count the Soviet grenadiers and ordinary infantry who opened the way for tanks. (In fact, Hua Hua has always believed that in the group battle, the German tank was completely destroyed by the Soviet tank, and the Soviet Union's tactics of opening the way in the sea of people were also very important, a large group of infantry in the front to clear the way for the tanks behind, in fact, there were not many German tanks that really fell under the T-34/85, but more were killed by a large number of infantry.) As for the Sherman tank, there is nothing to praise except for the production of forty-six thousand units. ）

And this amphibious tank of China, in fact, strictly calculated, except for some relatively advanced equipment and firepower, is not much stronger than the Type 4 tank. In terms of armor protection, it's not much worse. Because it is an amphibious tank, in order to ensure its speed in the water, its full combat weight is not high. But it also reached the level of thirty tons, which was no worse than the Japanese Type 4 tank.

Of course, the criteria that determine the merits of the tank. There is another very important aspect. In addition to high-quality tank crews, the most important point is the need for sophisticated fire control systems. Although China does not yet have the technology to develop any vehicle-mounted fire control radar on its own, some basic fire control devices have been available for a long time.

Submersible low-light sights, infrared sights, these can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the tank. The application of the advanced tank fire control system has also changed the need for skilled aiming experience of armored troops in the past, and adopted more scientific and effective aiming methods. This is not something that the Japanese side can have.

Little Japan was able to rely on the technology given by Germany to build a Type 4 tank, but they had absolutely no way to understand the existence of a scope.

In fact, since the outbreak of the war. Tank battles that took place. They all shoot tentatively at each other within 500 meters of each other. The real combat distance is within 300 meters.

The Chinese low-light sight can shoot within 1,500 meters, but the farther it goes, the worse the effect. At a distance of eight hundred meters with the help of a sight. Its hit rate can reach more than 60%. This was in World War II. It's already a very proud number. Because of such a hit rate, even in Germany, it is necessary to enter a distance of 400 meters. to have such a hit rate.

There is no doubt that Fort Singapore is a big city. Outside of the fields beside the main road by the city wall, the rest of the place is the avenue. After the Japanese 79th Armored Vehicle Wing left the city gate, it walked on solid ground, which happened to form a diagonal with the Chinese amphibious armored battalion.

At a distance of 1,200 meters, under the order of the forest hanging, the two companies and 16 tanks had already turned their guns and aimed at the target.

"Open fire." The commander of each tank gave the order to attack at the same time.

The 105 smoothbore guns on sixteen amphibious tanks roared at the same time, and as the muzzle fire flashed, the guns were discharged. The amphibious tank was also shaken and swayed violently a few times.

The trajectory of the shell streaked across the night sky, but such a trajectory is completely invisible to the human eye. However, when these shells began to hit the target, it was very obvious.

China's amphibious tank uses a 105 mm smoothbore tank gun, and when firing a tail stabilized shell and armor-piercing projectile, the power is enough to penetrate a 500 mm thick homogeneous steel plate, and hit a Type 4 tank with only the thickest 50 mm and the thinnest only a dozen mm thick.

According to aerodynamics, the thinner the projectile, the less drag. But the caliber of the gun is certain, so a new way has emerged: a lightweight butt is used to clamp the armor-piercing projectile body in the middle, the caliber of the butt is consistent with the caliber of the cannon, the armor-piercing projectile is made into an elongated rod, and after the disembowel, the butt automatically falls off due to the effect of resistance, and the projectile body continues to fly along the barrel, which is the origin of the word "shelling". In order to ensure the stability and accuracy of the slender missile body during flight, when manufacturing the armor-piercing projectile, four tail fins are installed in the tail and arranged in a cross shape, so it is called "tail stability". This kind of armor-piercing bullet has a fairly powerful armor-piercing ability.

The two Type 4 tanks that walked in the front looked like they had been bitten by mosquitoes, but the pointed mouth tore the skin of the tank and kissed the tank passionately. Then, the belly of the armored vehicle suddenly exploded, and the ammunition inside was killed by the heat flow formed when the armor-piercing projectile was fired, and the entire armored vehicle turned into a ball of fire.

The car in the back of the four-type tank was full of sweat, with the help of flares, the moment he saw the opponent's gun barrel aiming, he immediately began to shift gears, just a little slower, his tank, I'm afraid it will also suffer the same treatment, just when he hung up the reverse gear and retreated, the other party began to fire shells, in this short period of time, the armored car retreated a body length and survived.

The other Type 4 tanks were not so lucky, and after the attack of the amphibious armored battalion, eight sparks broke out in the 79 armored vehicle wing. Six Type 4 tanks were scrapped at the same time. There was more than one shell in two or three of them. Apparently the aim was repeated. However, the first round of shelling took out eight of Japan's latest tanks, dealing an extremely heavy blow to the other Japanese tanks.

"Tank wing, immediately and quickly assault, approach the Chinese tanks, and give full play to our numerical superiority at close range." Ueno Shinzi was in the command car behind, watching everything that happened, and immediately after the end of the round of shelling, he said in the car channel.

The Type 4 tank, as the most advanced tank in Japan, is also very representative of the radio station installed in the car. It is possible to realize the connection between the various workshops. Its effective communication range is within fifteen kilometers, which can be regarded as a zero breakthrough in Japanese armor.

The Type 4 tanks, which were still heading towards the avenue just now, all the tanks immediately turned to the right, formed a battle formation, and drove towards the fields to the east. The Type 4 tanks that climbed down the field were also blocked by the mud, but there was no way to do it. If you want to get close to each other, you have to go to the field. Otherwise, you will only go farther and farther along the avenue. Because the Chinese tanks are in the east. And the avenue is an arc that turns to the west.

In the hearts of every Japanese armored soldier, they were holding back their strength and rushed forward to beat this group of cunning chinensis. I want to attack myself hanging from a distance. No way!

If you look at it from the sky. The usually quiet fields are now a noisy scene, with a large array of tanks. is scrambling to storm east. In fact, there is no grain in heaven and earth for a long time, because the winter grain has been harvested, and then it is necessary to wait for spring before new planting begins. However, officially because there is no rice, a paddy field is even more difficult to walk.

If a few helicopter gunships flew in the sky at this time, the exposed tank assault group, without the follow-up of anti-aircraft fire, would have absolutely no chance of being spared. However, this was also the luck of the Japanese army, because Singapore was surrounded by battles, and they were lucky enough to choose a battlefield without helicopter gunships.

In fact, armed helicopter escorts have also been arranged here, but the first round of attacks has just ended, and they have returned to the amphibious assault ships to rest, and some are still on the way back to refuel. The armed helicopters of the Chinese Army cannot be taken care of here, and they cannot be deployed in a short time.

And whether it is the air force of China or the air force of Japan that breaks through to help, even if it comes, it will not have much effect in the dark, and this battle is destined to be a frontal collision between the armored groups of the two sides.

When he saw the new tanks of his proud tank wing enter the field, the speed had dropped to half of its usual speed. Ueno Shinzi senses that the situation is not good, and China's second attack is coming. He immediately ordered his armored corps to open fire directly! Even if it can't hit, it is necessary to disrupt the attack of the Chinese tanks. If you are so slow, then you will soon attract the opponent's attack, and it is better to take the initiative to attack than to stay where you are and be beaten.

The tank units behind were also following up, entering the paddy fields one by one, and Ueno Shinzi understood that he must not order his tank troops to withdraw from the paddy fields now. Now, there is no other way but to wipe out the opponent's 20 or so tanks in the field, leave the field as soon as possible, return to the hard ground, and take a charge-style attack on the Chinese troops attacking behind, crushing the opponent's offensive with an armored assault, so that the Chinese soldiers can also taste the taste of being crushed by tanks.

In the sky, just as the effect of the first flare was about to fade, the second flare rose into the air again. From the command vehicle, Ueno Shinzi felt that the situation was very unfavorable for him, and the tank units of both sides were lined up, but the other side was completely spread out in front of him. After his tanks went down the field, they formed a column, and the two sides formed a T-shape, a bit like the T-shaped head seized by the navy. In this way, his own firepower cannot be deployed at all, which is equivalent to tying his hands and feet and fighting desperately with a pack of wolves.

"Repeat the attack, don't stop, but also be wary of the anti-aircraft artillery on the city wall. The 3rd Company continued to fire on the opposing anti-aircraft artillery. Advance quickly, and don't let the other side form a momentum against us. "Seeing that the opponent's tanks also went down to the field, getting closer and closer to their own tank troops, the battle order was hung in the forest.

Suddenly, the one-line stormtrooper formation began to curl from both sides, and the 1st and 2nd companies outflanked the Japanese 79th Tank Wing from both sides.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer.

"The first brigade will deal with the enemy at 6 o'clock, the second brigade will deal with the enemy at 9 o'clock, and the third brigade will deal with the enemy at 3 o'clock. Shinko Ueno shouted over the radio.

Originally, his situation was very embarrassing, and it was not suitable for the play of firepower, but he did not expect that the stupid command of the opposing commander actually attacked his flank, so that the firepower of the tank just happened to be fully exerted.

Although the Chinese tank has always put a lot of pressure on people, Ueno Shinzi is not afraid at all, as long as he is close to the other party, the Chinese amphibious tank, he has no reason to be afraid. If it was China's land main battle tank in front of him at the moment, then he would not be twice as numerous as the other party. He was definitely not in such a mood.

After all, the tonnage and firepower are there, even if it is an 88-mm tank gun, not at a very close distance, it does not want to penetrate the Chinese main battle tank at all. And he is facing an amphibious tank, so he will not have such concerns, because as long as one gun, the armor-piercing shell of the 88-mm tank gun is enough to destroy the Chinese amphibious tank.

Thirty Type 4 tanks began to shoot, which was their first attack and the first actual combat after the Type 4 tanks came out. The whistling one is an armor-piercing projectile. Enough to destroy the amphibious tanks of China. But only if you hit the target.

At this moment, the distance between the two sides has been stretched to less than a thousand meters, and 30 shells have successfully landed in the amphibious tank battalion, splashing countless mud and water slurry, and it can be seen that large craters have appeared in the fields. White smoke is still billowing from it. Exploding mud. It's like a small crater. The mud bulges all around it, blocking the water in the fields from the pit.

And the Japanese attack was not without results, there were still shells that hit amphibious tanks. Two of the tanks were considered to have been penetrated, and these two tanks had no chance of getting a chance.

"Damn, bastard, little Japan, you were a good one." Lin Zhong was angry, seeing that his two tanks were under the attack of the other party, even the tank soldiers inside had no chance to escape, seeing that his comrades who had been getting along day and night for several years died in his eyes like this, he was really angry, and shouted: "Attention, all units pay attention, don't get too close, fire control system, nine hundred meters, tail stable shelling armor-piercing bullet." Shoot right away, and beat me to death......"

The armored soldiers in the other amphibious tanks were also full of anger, and no one felt comfortable seeing the battle die in front of their eyes. In fact, there was no need for an order hanging in the forest at all, and the remaining fourteen tanks of the first and second companies had already been aimed.

Lin Zhongjiao is a battalion commander and a vehicle commander, and he is also an aimer who can play the role of artillery commander at any time. He turned on the infrared light and aimed the 105mm smoothbore gun at a Type 4 tank in front of him, he could feel that the Type 4 tank was probably also aiming at himself, and this feeling was very unbearable.

"Crunch!" All the amphibious tanks stopped, and firing in motion was still an insurmountable barrier, so they had to stop if they wanted to hit each other accurately, but this was only temporary.

"Boom, boom, boom!" At the moment of stopping, the amphibious tank battalion began a second shelling.

In 0.01 seconds, the shell drilled out of the barrel, shook off the back butt, stretched out the four tail fins, and one by one the armor-piercing warheads, like fast-moving darts, flew towards the opponent.

The most effective way to deal with flying armor-piercing shells is to maneuver quickly, the shells are not missiles, they are all aimed before launch, as long as the tank moves forward for a certain distance during this time, it can successfully dodge the opponent's fire and survive the rain of bullets.

The 105 mm smoothbore gun of the amphibious tank, combined with the tail shell shell armor-piercing projectile, is quite powerful, as long as it hits, there is no possibility of survival.

When the tank was designed, the thickness of the armor varied everywhere, the thickest place was the front armor, followed by the sides, and the weakest was the rear armor.

Since the Type 4 tanks lined up had to deal with enemies coming from three sides, Ueno Shinki divided his tanks against enemies in three directions, so that turning to the left would leave the rear of the turret to the enemy on the right.

The turret of the Type 4 tank is welded, which is different from the Soviet Union's emphasis on low turrets, and the Japanese tanks have taller turrets, so that the personnel are more comfortable to stay inside, and at the rear of the turret, it is easier to store some ammunition.

However, this design also undoubtedly increases the area of bombing.

The armored men of the amphibious armored battalion did not have time to pay attention to whether they hit or not, and after firing the shells, everyone immediately got busy, and the artillery commander again looked for a new target. The driver, however, is the most concentrated, using their hands and feet together, shifting gears, accelerating, and getting out of the danger zone.

The three major indicators of a tank are firepower, mobility and protection. Although the protection capability of the amphibious tank is not strong, it is a tank suitable for amphibious landing warfare, in order to be able to quickly approach the beachhead, the engine is full of horsepower, and the body is relatively light, and the mobility is better than that of the main battle tank.

It's just that here are rice fields, soaked in waterlogged mud, which limits the acceleration of amphibious tanks.

On the other side, the Japanese Type 4 tank is facing the same problem. Not only did they lose a lot of horsepower to amphibious tanks, but the most unfortunate thing was that when several tanks fired shells, due to the strong recoil, the rear of the body fell into the mud, and the tracks were idling weakly, but they couldn't climb out.

The shells of the amphibious tanks appeared in the sky above the opponent as the Type 4 tanks struggled to advance quickly.

A Type 4 tank that was struggling hard, every time the driver stepped on the accelerator, the body of the 30-ton tank trembled upward, but it could not break free from the muddy ground. Inside the tank, the other three crew members kept yelling, urging him to move the tank faster. Because tanks at rest are the fastest to die. They are all grasshoppers on a rope, and they all fall.

Just when the commander couldn't help but be furious, an armor-piercing bullet pierced the hapless Type 4 tank, and a huge metal heat flow penetrated the turret, and the three people inside were instantly killed in this heat flow, and then, the armor-piercing shell entered the turret, and the ammunition that the automatic ammunition feeding device was about to be loaded into the gun chamber was detonated.

"Boom!" After a loud bang, the turret of the tank flew into the sky, and the driver in front of him was immediately shocked and bleeding and lost his life. (To be continued......)